What If
by Magemaster
Summary: Starts with HPatPoA Sirius Black made his escape but never said where he went. FULL SUMMERY INSIDE! Xover with Charmed and Buffy. mentions of SG1, but nothing major. goes in line with Not the Only One
1. Chapter 1

What If

Chapter I

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Harry Potter_, _Charmed_, _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, or _SG1_. I only own the plot and my own characters.

SUMMERY: This is a change in my original 'What If' story line. Instead of begging at the beginning, this begins at about the end of _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_. Sirius Black needs to have a place to hide with Buckbeak. He flees to an old friend in hopes that she will be willing to help him. Of course, no one ever told her what truly happened twelve years ago. . .

* * *

Miya Becket sat back in her chair as she thought about what her old friend had just told her. A Slayer missing and another Slayer waiting to be found. Well, the 'Slayer to be found' part was done. The brunette was currently upstairs playing video games with her fourteen year old cousin, Miya's daughter Selena.

Standing, Miya walked upstairs to speak to Faith. The living room was a bit of a mess and two boys were sitting on the couch watching as the two girls played some kind of fighting game. Thirteen year old Chris was cheering on Faith while fourteen year old Wyatt was cheering on Selena.

"I do hope that my living room will be put back to rights once you're all through with it." All of them jumped, turning to look Miya.

"Don't worry mom, we'll clean up." Selena turned back to the game just in time to lose to Faith.

"Games over, now clean up before you start another one. Faith, I need to speak with you." Miya left them groaning.

The brunette winched. She had shown up rather unexpectedly four days ago. Her aunt had taken her in without a word of question. However, just as when she was younger, Faith found that she could not keep what had brought her here to San Francisco from her aunt. So she had told her what had happened since the last time that they had seen each other. Faith had been six and Selena only four.

"I'm not throwing you out Faith," Miya motioned for the girl to sit on her bed while she took up the desk chair after warding the doorway so that none of the three bellow them would be able to hear what they spoke about.

"Then what is it that you want?" Faith tried to act with her normal attitude, but in the face of her aunt found that it was near impossible. She came out as sounding more like a whining five year old.

"I don't want anything from you Faith," Miya sighed and promised to give her stepsister a very stern talking to in the afterlife if she ever met her there. "You've already told me what happened with your Watcher and why you just showed up out of nowhere." Faith nodded, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Now you need to tell me about your nightmares."

That threw Faith for a loop. She had thought that she was being quiet when she had them. By the look on her aunt's face, she clearly hadn't been. Groping for a lie, her talent in that area failed her. Fighting with herself, she haltingly told her aunt about what happened in her Slayer Dream.

"You aren't they only Slayer Faith," Miya told her, "and I find the Council not having you informed on that to be very stupid on their part." Faith looked stunned, something that was very hard to do.

"You mean that. . ." Faith trailed off as her mind brought forth an image of the blonde from her dream.

"Yes, the girl from your dream is called Buffy Summers. Her watcher Giles is a very old friend of mine and that was who I was speaking with downstairs." Miya told her niece what had been going on in Sunnydale recently.

"So I need to go there and help out?" Faith grimaced, not liking the thought of having to work with other people.

"I think that you'll enjoy the fight you'll find there. It'll certainly be more than what you've had around here." Miya grinned at the blush that spread across Faith's face. "Besides, who's to say that you won't find someone who understands?" Miya silenced Faith before the girl could begin to protest. "I know you spoke with me about what happened, but you must reach out to other people Faith or you will not like the road you find yourself on." Miya didn't explain what she meant and Faith knew it was useless to get her to do so.

"When do I have to leave?" Faith asked, expecting to be told that she had to leave today.

"When you're ready," Miya told her, "and Giles is expecting you, so go to him when get there." Her smiled widened and turned evil for a split second. "Try to be good, but don't go too easy on him. He needs to let Ripper out to play once in a while and something tells me you might just be the one to get him to do that."

* * *

Selena woke up, breathing hard. Something wasn't right and she moved to get off of her bed. Standing, she slipped into the flip-flops that served as her house-shoes and left her room. She crept downstairs and looked out one of the windows into the backyard. She gasped when she saw the beast that landed there with a dirty man on his back that got off once the beast had landed.

The girl rushed back upstairs and into her mother's room where she leapt onto the bed. "Mom, there's someone downstairs!"

Miya woke up all at once, catching her daughter and calming her down so that she could understand what Selena was saying. Face going grim, she told Selena to go and wake up Faith. Both of them were to stay in Faith's room until told other wise. Selena nodded, going to do as told.

Going down the stairs, Miya nearly fell when the doorbell rang. Wondering why an intruder would ring the doorbell, Miya tightened her hand around the crystal she held. Her powers as a witch resided over Earth, just as Selena's did.

Cautisiously looking out the window in the door, she gasped before yanking it open and dragging the man standing on her back porch into her kitchen.

"Sirius Black, what on Earth is the meaning of you coming here in the middle of the night without warning? What's wrong with Lily?"

Sirius looked at her in shock. "You don't know? How could you not know?" He faltered, Miya catching him and calling for someone named Nori who appeared in a swirl of blue and white light.

"Nori, can you look him over while I get my girls?"

Nori nodded, "of course, who is he?"

Miya sighed, "I tell you once Selena and Faith are in here. Just, please, don't let him do anything stupid!"

Nori did as she was asked and when the three females of the house were in the kitchen, the man's physical wounds were healed. Miya quickly got him something to eat and drink, telling Nori and her girls who he was.

"Now Sirius, what do I not know that I am supposed to?" Miya felt dread fill her. Sirius had never answered her question about Lily.

"Lily and James died twelve years ago," Sirius scrubbed at his eyes to rid them of tears. "I've been in Azkaban that long for something that rat Pettigrew did. You mean that no one told you? Is that why Harry isn't here?"

Miya shook her head. "The last time I spoke to Lily was a few days before she went into hiding with James and Harry. You know that the spell that was used to hide them can't be penetrated by my magic nor could we contact each other. What happened to Harry?"

Sirius finished the sandwich Miya had given him. "Dumbledore sent him to Petunia."

"He what?" Miya yelled, going on a rant that made Faith cover Selena's ears while the girl stared at her mother.

Sirius eyed the woman as well. With her red hair and green eyes, she could have been Lily's twin. Miya was older than Lily by three years and was her half-sister. She was a Wiccan witch with power over earth, telekinesis, and was what she called a pathfinder.

"I thought you knew," he said softly.

"Knew? If I had known, I would have stolen Harry away before Petunia even found him on her doorstep!" Miya breathed deeply, calming down as she did so. Nori grabbed her hand, not even winching when Miya squeezed it. "I want to know everything. After that, you will sleep and continue to eat until you no longer look as if you haven't had food in years. Then, and only then, will we work on a way to bring Harry home."

* * *

Faith hugged her aunt tightly. Two days after Sirius had arrived; she had decided that it was time that she went to join with the other Slayer.

"Be careful," Miya warned her, "and call me whenever you need or want to."

"Yea," Selena hugged her cousin tightly, "and you have to come back." Sirius, in dog form, barked in agreement. He had come to like Faith in the two days he had known her.

"I'll do both," Faith promised, returning Selena's hug with one of her own.

She waved until they were out of sight, then turned forward. She wasn't sure that she was ready for this, but she'd be damned if anyone thought she'd shirk her duties. She'd also never forgive herself if Kakisoust killed the only family she actually cared about.

* * *

Two weeks into the summer and Miya was ready to retrieve her nephew. Selena had freed the hippogriff Buckbeak from any ties he had to anyone and released him back to where ever he had come from. Sirius was sad to see him go, but knew that he couldn't keep the beast in captivity.

"Now, we're going to do this legally." Miya explained to them, "So for the time being Sirius is known as Grim and will stay in his dog form." Both of those listening to her nodded in agreement, although it was rather comical seeing the large black dog nodding his head like he understood, which he did.

"Miya?" A woman called out, sticking her head inside the open back door.

"In here Piper," Miya stood and waved to her friend to show here where 'here' was. "I have someone I want you to meet."

Piper wondered thru her friend's kitchen and into the living room where she was in just enough time to see a dog transform into a man. She threw her hands up, aiming to freeze the man but when he just looked at her strangely she realized that it hadn't worked. Piper glared as Miya and Selena sat laughing on the couch.

"I'm sorry Piper," Miya apologized, "this is an old friend of mine, Sirius Black."

"What is he, a weredog?" Piper looked at the man who seemed confused, although what else he could be she didn't know.

"No, Sirius is a wand wizard, like my sister." Piper nodded, remembering that bit of information.

"What is he doing here now though? Is something wrong with your sister and her family?" Piper sat in one of Miya's over sized chairs, facing her friend.

"Lily died twelve years ago," Miya said softly, "Sirius told me a lot when he showed up a little less than three weeks ago."

Piper sat, shocked. She remembered how she had felt when Pru had died, yet she didn't know what to say. 'I'm sorry' seemed a bit . . . lame.

"What about your nephew? He'd be about Chris's age now, right?"

Miya nodded, "I am going to England with Nori and Sirius in his dog form to retrieve him. Selena's going with us of course," Miya grinned at Selena, "not that I didn't try to convince her to stay here."

Piper pursed her lips. "I came over here to see if you and Selena wanted to join us for lunch." Her lips formed a grin, "I guess that can wait until you return with your nephew."

"Thank you Piper, we'd enjoy that. Plus, it'd probably be easier to explain what Selena and I are to Harry with the help of you and your sisters, not to mention your boys!" Both women laughed at that, sharing an inside joke that the various children who they had borne into the world had spent years trying to figure out and had yet to succeed.

The two friends said their goodbyes and Piper wished Miya good luck. Miya watched as her friend disappeared thru the back fence, although she knew that there was simple a few loose boards there to slip though.

"Come on you two, let's get going."


	2. Chapter 2

What If

Chapter 2

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT MY OC PEOPLE!

* * *

Harry Potter sat on his bed in the smallest bedroom in the house. It was only a week into summer vacation and it was already promising to be just like any other. Of course, Ron had said something about the Quidditch World Cup game but that wasn't until later in the summer.

Part of him winched in pain, thinking about where he could have been instead of here. He hadn't heard from his godfather since he had sent the tiny owl with the message and Hogsmead permission slip. Shoving his thoughts aside, the short thirteen-year-old stood and made his way downstairs.

Without a word, he started making breakfast. Although it was nothing like what he used to be forced to cook, since Dudley had been forced into a diet at the end of his school term. He had succeeded in becoming the size of a new born killer whale. Unfortunately, this meant that everyone had to be on the same diet. His aunt seemed to think that way her 'duddykins' wouldn't feel alone. He still got to eat more than Harry though, which made his over sized cousin happy and gloating.

"Boy, hurry up with breakfast!" Vernon Dursley snapped at him.

"Coming Uncle Vernon," Harry sat the plate of sliced fruit in front of his uncle. Another went in front of Dudley and another in front of Petunia. Harry took his much smaller plate and sat down in the only empty chair.

"There's a list of chores on the refrigerator for you once you finish eating," Vernon told him, "I expect them completed by the time I get home tonight."

"Yes Uncle Vernon," Harry replied, figuring that he might get lunch today if he did most of the list before noon.

Vernon left and Petunia only told Harry that she expected him to clean the kitchen as well. Dudley only glared at his cousin, snatching the last few pieces of fruit off of Harry's plate. Harry stood up, squashing his anger down.

Instead, he cleaned the kitchen until it was spotless. After that, he went to the garden and began to weed it. The sun was hot and it wasn't long before he was sweating. A sudden noise alerted him to someone at the fence. He looked up, finding herself looking at a girl he didn't know.

"Uh, hi," the girl smiled at him. She had blue eyes and red hair, although no where near as fiery as Ron's and his family's. It looked more like the shade of red his mom had had, and did have in the few pictures he had of her.

Harry swallowed, "Hi," he wondered what she was doing here and asked her as much.

"Oh, my mom and I, along with our dog Grim, are here to visit mom's half-sister." She scrunched her nose up in a look of distaste.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Harry asked her, realizing that the girl spoke with an unfamiliar accent.

"Nope, born and raised in the US." The girl's face cracked into a smile. "I'm Selena, by the way. Do you live here or are you weeding gardens for summer cash?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if all American girls were like her. "I live here. Weeding the garden is one of my chores." She looked at him expectantly and Harry realized what she wanted. "I'm Harry."

"Well Harry, are you going to let me in?" Selena was hanging off the fence, using her telekinesis to help her stay that way. Harry didn't know that, but he didn't need to.

"My aunt isn't home. . ." Harry told her, wondering why the girl hadn't just left yet. The only girls he really knew were Hermione and Ginny.

"So? I'm not going to hurt anything. Besides, I'm bored and I want to do something besides sit around with my mom waiting." Selena looked at him, filing away how he looked.

"Alright," Harry let her in thru the gate and she went to kneel where he had been. He was surprised in the way she was dressed. Blue jeans with random writing covering them, a black t-shirt displaying a band he had never heard of, sandals that looked brand new, and a watch on her left wrist. Her hair was tied back into a braid that went to the bottom of her shoulders. Selena couldn't have been that much older than he was.

Selena fired questions at him as the two worked together. Although some of them he couldn't answer, he answered what he could and received answers for his questions in return. Furious barking followed by someone shouting for the girl beside him took the two teenagers attention away from their task and conversation.

"I'm right here Mom, in here Grim!" Selena stood up and brushed off her jeans. Harry watched as the dirt fell off and Selena looked as if she hadn't just been elbow deep in dirt. She made him look like an unkempt urchin. "Here Harry," Selena patted him down, the dirt falling away. Harry felt the familiar tingle of magic and he looked at his new friend in shock. Selena only grinned at him.

A very familiar dog bounded into the yard thru the gate Harry had left open. The boy stared as he was knocked to the ground and nearly licked to death by the large black dog that was his godfather.

"That's enough Grim," Selena chided, "I just finished getting the dirt off him!"

Sirius let Harry get back up, giving Selena puppy eyes while the boy did so. Harry wondered if Selena knew just what and who her pet actually was. Yet the person who entered the yard next stopped him. Harry stared.

"Selena, I told you not to run off like that." Miya looked at her daughter then turned to look at the young man who she had been talking to and stopped. Everything about the boy screamed James Potter except the eyes. The only person he could of gotten eyes like that from had been her sister.

"I know Mom, but look who I found!" Selena's grin never wavered.

"H-how. . ." Harry couldn't form words. His mind was going between a trick, a dream, and the desperate hope that this was real.

"Boy, what are you doing? Who are these people? Get out of my yard this instant!" Harry swallowed as he turned to look at his uncle. It was just nearing lunch, Vernon had come home for the meal it seemed. That or to check on Harry, the boy didn't know which.

"Who are you yelling at dear?" Petunia had followed her husband outside. She gasped at the woman standing there staring at Harry.

The woman smirked. "Hello Petunia." Harry stared at them all now, confused. How did this woman know his aunt?

"W-what are you doing here Miya?" Petunia tried to glare, but knew she was failing.

Miya shrugged. "I'm here to sue you for custody. Why didn't you contact me when Lily and James died?"

Petunia stood tall, "You seem to forget that I have no way of contacting you." She sneered. "You can't take the boy, ask his headmaster."

Miya's smirk widened. "Harry, I am your aunt Miya Becket. The girl beside you is your cousin Selena Becket." She met her younger sister's eyes. "Dumbledore has no control over me, sister dearest."

Selena stuck her tongue out at the two other adults before turning to Harry. "Harry, do you consider this place your home?"

Harry shook his head, but didn't say anything. Vernon yelled at him and called him an ungrateful brat. Miya sighed.

"Oh do shut up you over sized Chihuahua," Miya glared at the man who was quickly turning purple in the face. "Harry, please give Selena a verbal answer."

"No, I don't consider this my home." Harry said aloud for the first time in front of someone. A small tinkling sound, like broken glass, sounded around them. Vernon dashed inside.

"Good," Miya took a folder stack of papers that were stapled together and handed them to Petunia. "Sign these like a good girl and we'll leave you alone forever if you like."

Petunia didn't waste any time. She snatched the papers and haphazardly signed them before giving them back to Miya. Miya looked them over, having already signed them herself.

"Harry, go and gather what you want from your bedroom. We'll be waiting for you in the car out front. Selena go with him and make sure nothing he needs is left."

Harry, dazed, led Selena to his tiny bedroom. Selena grimaced, but didn't say anything.

"Do those even fit you?" She waved at the clothing Harry was stuffing into his trunk that for once he had been allowed to keep in his room.

"My school robes fit me just fine," Harry told her, then glanced down at Dudley's hand-me-downs. He knew what she had meant.

"Leave those nasty looking things. Mom'll get you new ones when we get home." She looked around the room. "Is that every thing?"

"Yea, most of this junk is Dudley's anyway." Harry told her. "I have what's mine."

Selena grinned at him. "Do you have a bird Harry?" She pointed to the cage, freshly cleaned and waiting for its occupant, that Harry and picked up.

"Yes, her name's Hedwig. She's my school owl." Harry wondered where she was, not having seen her.

"Oh, cool, do we need to wait for her or will she find us?"

"She's always able to find me," Harry told her, pride of Hedwig shining in his eyes although he didn't know it.

"Come on then, Mom and Grim are waiting for us."

Still slightly dazed, Harry followed his cousin downstairs and out the front door. The door slammed shut behind him, locking tightly. Selena helped him maneuver the trunk into the back of the rental car.

"Hi Ms. Nori," Selena said to the Japanese woman sitting in the passenger seat, "this is Harry."

"Hello Harry," She shook the boy's hand, "I am guessing that you're a little confused right now, but do not worry. All will be explained at the first opportunity."

"Well, get in you two. We haven't got all day." Miya heard two stomachs growl, "lunch is first on the list then once we get home."

"Let's get to a more secluded place first," Nori told her, "I do not want to alert these people that magic exists."

Harry waited long enough with his questions until, in a swirl of white and blue light, they appeared in what Harry figured to be Miya's living room. He turned to question them only to be engulfed into a hug from Sirius.

"It's good to see you again Harry," Sirius told him.

"Don't suffocate the boy," Miya told him. "We probably just confused the boy by taking him from those miserable people I am forced to admit share blood with me. Let's get some food into him and explain before he thinks we're all insane."

"I'm going to go tell Wyatt and Chris that we're back." Selena told them, dashing out the house and through the fence before Miya could say anything.

"Harry, let Nori look you over for any injuries and she can explain her role in all of this." Miya wrapped her arms around the shorter woman. "After that I'll explain what I know to you."

"Ok," Harry replied, trusting that Sirius wouldn't bring him to people who would wish to hurt him. He was a little shocked with everything, but at least he wasn't with the Dursley's anymore.

* * *

Later that night, Harry's head was still swimming from everything that his aunt and cousin had told him. He sorted it out as he lay in his room. His room. Now there was a thought.

The walls were painted a deep green color, almost the same shade as his eyes. He liked it, even if it was a bit Slytherin. The trim was gold and in the upper corners there were golden snitches painted. On one wall a magnificent mural was painted of various mythical creatures. Although, according to his aunt they weren't all mythical. The carpet was black and soft, comfortable to walk on. There were bookshelves, a dresser, a closet, a large desk with plenty of room for him to work on, and a welcoming bed already made up with sheets and blankets proudly depicting the moon and stars.

That wasn't all of it. His mother had had an older half-sister, Miya, from his Grandmother's first marriage. He had a cousin, one who liked him. They were both witches, although they didn't use wands. They could both use the element of earth, were telekinetic, and Miya had the ability to help people find the paths of their lives. Selena's gift was that of language. She had but to hear a few words and not only could she identify it, but she could also speak it.

It was amazing and surprising. More surprising was that Miya told him that his mother had been able to use Wiccan magic. Harry grinned, slipping into sleep. He was home, he could already feel it.


	3. Chapter 3

What If

Chapter Three

I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT AND MY OC PEOPLE!

* * *

It was not a good day to be Albus Dumbledore. It had started out as a good day, with wonderful weather and the school quiet for the summer holidays. Everything was going how he wanted it to go.

Then the alarms went off, alerting him to the wards around Harry's aunt and uncle's home had been broken. He had jumped up and shut the alarms off, gathering his wand and preparing to go and see what had happened. He summoned Severus from his potions lab to go with him, even though he knew that the man didn't care for the boy-who-lived.

When they arrived at the Dursley's (dressed as muggles to avoid problems), they found everything as it should be. Nothing was amiss, and nothing suggested that anything had happened.

Dumbledore knocked on the front door. Petunia Dursley answered it, face grim with displeasure at the sight of the two wizards. She let them in, not wanting the neighbors to talk more than they already did. She turned to them once the door was closed and both men were inside.

"He isn't here"— her mouth moved but nothing came out. Petunia stopped trying to talk and settled to glaring.

Soon, they discovered that while Petunia couldn't tell them in any way (when she tried to write it down, it looked like either gibberish or scribbles) who had taken Harry. Discouraged, they left. Petunia did manage to tell them that she would no longer welcome Harry back from school; she had had enough of magic.

"Who do you think did this Severus?" Dumbledore asked: tired after finding nothing, not even the slimmest trace of either Harry or who ever had taken him.

Severus merely scowled and didn't answer. He stalked back to his lab. Once sure that Dumbledore wouldn't see him however, he switched directions and headed outside of the wards guarding Hogwarts. He disappeared.

* * *

He reappeared in the enclosed backyard of an old friend. He raised a shield in just enough time to stop the hard lumps of packed dirt and rock that were thrown at him.

"You learn," Miya stood, hand still raised from where she had summoned and thrown the dirt balls. "I take it you're here about Harry."

It was dark, the sun still hanging brightly over England. Only the dim streetlights and porch light cast any light into the yard.

"You always were good at secrecy spells," Severus replied, "especially ones that left no trace of their caster."

"So you correctly assumed that I went and kidnapped my nephew from Petunia," Miya smirked and moved aside, "come in and tell me why you never told me about Lily's demise, and what you've been doin' all these years."

Severus nodded, doing a rare thing as he did so. He smiled, transfiguring his robes into normal clothing. "I take it Black is here as well?"

"Of course, how else could I have found out? That headmaster seems pretty determined to keep me out of Harry's life. I didn't know Lily and James were dead until Sirius showed up a few weeks ago and told us."

Severus sat down at Miya's kitchen table. "How is Selena?" Severus was Selena's Godfather.

"She's doing well at Magic School. Later this summer Daniel and I are planning for her to go and visit him for a few weeks in Colorado." Miya set a cup of cold cider in front of her friend before sitting across from him with her own. "She's ecstatic at the thought of having another cousin, particularly since Faith had to leave to continue on her own path."

"So how is Potter?"

"Harry is fine, although it did take awhile to explain things to him. Nori was a great help in that area. Did anyone at Hogwarts know that those things, I hesitate to call them human beings, abused him?"

"_What_?" Severus snapped, angry. His own father had abused him, hating the magic that he had. "Dumbledore always insisted that Potter was fine, that the blood wards protected him from harm."

Miya snorted, "Yea, and I can raise the dead. Those blood wards he flaunted about? They were weak, the only thing holding them together was the fact that Harry that he had no where else safe to go. Nothing else that was required to make those wards strong was present. A Death Eater or any demon strong enough could have easily broken them."

"How did you break them?" Severus asked, curious.

"Selena asked Harry if he thought of that place as home and I told him to give her a verbal answer. Once he said 'no' aloud, the wards shattered. I had already placed a delaying spell on the warning trigger, that's why it took two days for the headmaster to know about it."

"He doesn't recognize Wiccan magic for what it can do," Severus added, "so you knew that only someone aware of your magic would know it was you who took Potter."

"Yep," Miya finished her drink and stood up. She drifted into the hallway and Severus heard a yelp. When Miya came back in, Sirius Black followed her in.

"I see you found someplace mutt," Severus sneered.

"Boys, you are both my friends and adults. However, if you insist upon fighting like children I shall treat you as such. Now, make your peace with each other and at least behave civilly." Miya glared at them as the two men did so. She twisted her hands and whispered the words of a binding spell to seal the compromise. "Now that that's settled, what are we going to do about the headmaster?"

* * *

The next morning, Harry padded down the stairs and into the kitchen to get something to eat. Miya had explained to him that if he was hungry, he was more than welcome to get something to snack on providing she wasn't going to use it for part of a meal. A list of possible meals for the week was posted on the fridge so that everyone always knew what was or wasn't allowed to be eaten at certain times.

Quietly, as no one else was up, he got some of the leftovers from the previous night's dinner and ate them cold. Cold pizza, he had discovered thanks to Selena, was excellent and made a good snack whenever he was hungry.

Taking the plate, he made his way back up the stairs. Selena was standing in her doorway rubbing sleep out of her eyes. At the sight of the plate in Harry's hands, she opened her door wider and motioned for him to come in. Once inside, she closed the door.

"I do hope you weren't planning on eating all of that by yourself." Her grin was infectious and Harry found himself returning it.

"No, but I thought you were still asleep. I would have saved you some." Harry sat on the floor so that he could lean against his cousin's bed.

"I know, but having a boy for a best friend for most of my life has taught me that sometimes hunger wins out over intention." She sat beside him with the plate between them. Together, they polished off the pizza.

"Are you still going to be able to eat breakfast when Miya fixes it?" Harry asked, watching as Selena got up and strode over to her closet where she kept her jeans and the few 'girly outfits' she owned.

"Of course I am," she pulled out two pairs of jeans, "which pair?"

Harry, once Selena had found out that he had what she called 'taste' in clothing, had become the deciding factor if she had trouble. Selena was the perfect example of a tomboy, and Harry didn't mind.

"The black pair," He looked at the shirt that was already sitting on top of her bed. It was dark blue with darker indigo along the edges. Black would look good with it.

"Thanks Harry," she didn't even have to point to the door as he left.

Going to his own room, Harry dressed in a shirt that matched Selena's except that it was red and scarlet. His own jeans were black as well. For a few seconds Harry enjoyed the feeling of having clothing besides his school robes that actually fit. He met back up with Selena in the hallway.

"You know, I wish mom would wake up already." Selena frowned, not wanting to have to postpone her and Harry's plans with Wyatt and Chris.

"I can make breakfast," Harry offered, knowing why Selena didn't want to wait for Miya to wake up.

"You can cook?" Selena looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Harry wondered if she was going to say something against it. They got along extremely well for only having known each other for a few days, but Harry was cautious around them still.

"Cool, let's see what you can do." Selena tugged him into the kitchen.

Soon Harry had three pans going on the stove while Selena watched, impressed.

"Where did you learn to do this Harry?" Selena was slicing peeled cantaloupe into chunks to go along with the sausage, eggs, and hash browns Harry was cooking.

Harry shrugged, "I've had to cook since I was old enough to hold a skillet. A stepstool let me reach everything." He expected Selena to pass it off as nothing, but she glowered.

"How old were you?" She asked.

"I think four or five," Harry replied honestly, knowing that one reason he got on so well with Selena was that unlike the other students at Hogwarts she didn't expect him to be anything other than Harry.

"I hope when the gods judge them they get what they deserve," Nori said from the doorway, causing both of them to jump slightly. The short Japanese woman smiled at them. She was dressed for the day as well in pale blue jeans and a pale blue shirt with an angel on it.

"Indeed," Miya was standing there as well, her black shirt depicting a witch on a broomstick silhouetted against a pale yellow full moon. Her jeans were dark blue. "If you two were hungry, you could have woken us up. You didn't have to cook Harry."

Harry grinned, "I like cooking, it's fun."

Miya smiled and shook her head. "Just like Lily, she liked cooking too. However, she banned James from doing anything other than washing up after he burned the third skillet."

Both children laughed. Harry liked hearing about his parents as real people, not just heroes. Selena left the kitchen to go and awaken Sirius. However, her happy cry of 'uncle' reached their ears first.

"Harry, I should mention that I had a visitor last night after you and Selena went to bed. I know you don't like him, and I know you don't know this, but he was a friend of Lily's and he is still a friend of mine. Please treat him with at least grudging respect."

Harry, confused, nodded. So far he had liked all of Miya's friends. However, when the man walked into the kitchen after his own godfather, he had to swallow his shock.

"Harry, this is my Uncle Severus," Selena started, but Severus stopped her.

"Harry is one of my students Selena," he explained.

"You knew?" Harry asked, anger welling up inside of him. Before he said or did something he knew he would regret, Harry ran. He didn't want anything to jeopardize his new family, so he figured he had to get away before he did something stupid.

Part of the discussion the night before had been about Severus's treatment of Harry. The man couldn't really explain why he had never questioned Dumbledore in where he had placed Harry, or why he acted the way he did. The more he looked back on it, the more he questioned it. It was confusing, as he remembered that while Harry looked almost just like James Potter, he still did resemble Lily. He acted more like Lily as well. He also didn't know why, in the random times he had visited, why he had never mentioned Lily to Miya.

"I apologize Miya," Severus told her, but Miya shook her head.

"I lay all of this on that headmaster's feet. I may not know the full extent of wand magic or even magic in general, but I know enough of it to know that it can do many things. Not all of them good, nor all of them bad." Miya frowned as she took over the food on the stove so that it wouldn't burn. "The paths are unclear, and many possibilities branch off of the one we are currently on."

Nori drifted out of the kitchen while Miya spoke of the paths she could see. Closing her eyes, she sensed for Harry. Finding him, she had to smile. Of course he would have found someplace high to think. She orbed to the roof, reachable by several overlapping trellises and ivy strengthened by the earth magic that saturated the place.

"You know, the first time Selena came up here it took us hours to find her." Nori sat beside Harry.

"But you can sense your charges," Harry looked at her, "why didn't you find her right away?"

Nori smiled. "A witch's powers, when tied to things of nature like Miya and Selena's, can be enhanced and even hidden when surrounded by the things that answer to their power." The flat roof was surrounded by ivy and small pots with various colored wildflowers growing in them. "This is the perfect place for Selena to hide."

"What about Miya?" Nori grinned, but a faint blush bloomed on her cheeks.

"I can always sense Miya, no matter what. I've never asked, but Leo can most likely do the same when it comes to Piper."

Harry, who was not as dense as some seemed to think he was, blushed as well. "Oh."

"Why did you run Harry?" Nori asked him. "Is it because you are being thrust into things so quickly?"

Harry shook his head. Nori stayed quiet and still, waiting for Harry to talk.

"Dumbledore always said that Aunt Petunia was the only person of my family that was still alive. I always assumed that meant the she never had any other siblings or that everyone else was dead. Snape has always hated me, because I remind him of my dad and what my dad did." Harry's eyes were distant, remembering the times he had asked about his family and when he had looked into the Mirror of Erised and had seen the family he had never known.

"Severus showed up late last night after being taken by your headmaster to see the Dursleys. It seems spells that been in place to keep Miya from finding out about Lily's death were broken when Sirius arrived and told her what had happened. I would not put it past your headmaster to have spelled your teacher into hating you."

"But why?" Harry looked at Nori. "Why did Dumbledore do all of this? Miya told me that mum and dad never wanted me to go to Petunia. Even Sirius said that. Why?"

"I do not know Harry," Nori told him honestly, "but think about this. If a person wants to be seen as a hero by one person, a savior of sorts, but it could only happen if certain things were done to this person, what would the first person do?"

Harry answered without even really thinking about it. "They would put the second person into a situation where they first person is the only solution that they know of." Harry blinked. "Why was me being miserable so important? Surely it wouldn't have harmed me, if I had been happy when I was little?"

"I don't know Harry," Nori told him, "but now things are changing. Let us go down and eat breakfast with everyone else. Go and spend time with your friends. Make peace with your teacher and learn from him. Learn about your family and your magic."

"But what if I'm forced to go back?" Harry asked softly, "I don't want to go back. I like it here."

"No one's making you go anywhere." Selena appeared next to Harry and hugged him tightly. "You're mine and Mom's now, and Nori's and Sirius's and everybody else's. You're not going anywhere and you never have to face anything alone again, not even that moldy-shorts guy." She reached around her neck and slipped off one of the necklaces that hung there. It was a pendant shaped like sinuous dragon steadied on three clawed paws with the fourth raised up in a warning motion. It was pewter, cool in his hand despite being worn constantly by his cousin.

"Wear this and I'll know when you need help, even if you don't have a chance to ask for it." She told him.

"She right," Wyatt and Chris had joined them, though Harry hadn't noticed them until now. Nori slipped away, knowing that they could take care of Harry. "Friends stick together, even if they're on different continents."

"My friends usually end up hurt," Harry replied, remembering how Ron and Hermione had been hurt during their adventures in just their first three years at Hogwarts. If they hadn't been friends with him, they wouldn't have been hurt.

"Ha," Chris snorted, "we've been hurt before fighting demons and even practicing our own magic." He shrugged, looking much like Piper as he spoke. "At least if we do it together we have that much better chance of getting through it alive."

* * *

"What are they doing up there?" Piper asked, having come over when Chris and Wyatt both orbed off without telling her where they were going.

"Harry is having to face some of the issues that he has to live with by being the boy-who-lived," Severus explained. He sneered.

"He shouldn't have to deal with them," Miya said suddenly, angry. "At least they're making sure that he doesn't have to deal with them alone."

"Don't worry Piper," Leo told his wife, "our boys can take care of themselves. So can Selena. Harry needs them now. They can do a lot more than we can at this point."

"Come on," Nori was smirking and Miya was soon copying her. "While they take care of Harry, we can plan . . . some mishaps for a certain headmaster."

Piper, who had been filled in by a very irate Miya on what had been happening with Harry, was soon smirking as well. All she had to do was think about either of her boys in that position and she was ready to vanquish something.

Leo looked at them all. Sirius Black and Severus Snape both looked serious and not nearly as scary as the three women. He inwardly sighed. He had better help, if just to run interference. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun as well...

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

What If

What If

Chapter Four

I OWN NO ONE BUT MY OC PEOPLE AND THE PLOT!

* * *

Draco Malfoy was not happy. Since the start of the summer, his mother had decided that he would accompany her as she traveled around the world visiting friends of hers. So far, none of them had any interest in Draco and vice versa. To him, it was a bothersome way to spend the summer. Not that he had had any plans, he knew better then to plan things without asking his father's permission.

"Come Draco," he sneered, but followed his mother any way. They were walking, of all activities for them to be doing, down an obviously muggle street. They were even dressed as muggles. His mother in a pale blue dress and common sense flats with a rather worn purse (he had no idea where his prim and proper mother had gotten such a thing) hanging off of one shoulder. He was dressed in khaki pants and a dark green dress shirt. He looked as if he were attending some sort of function verses going for a walk in an urban neighborhood in San Francisco.

The two made their way to the end house of the block. Draco could just see the house behind it, although the greenery around the house nearly made it impossible. Draco wondered if some crazy Hufflepuff lived in the house his mother had stopped in front of. With a sickening realization, he saw that his mother had not only stopped, she was walking thru up the pathway towards the door. He scurried to catch up.

The door was opened by a woman with long red hair tied up into a braid. She was dressed in jeans and an old t-shirt with, Draco was slightly repulsed to see, dirt and grass stains on it. Her cat-like green eyes were confused for a few seconds before they brightened with the smile that formed on her face.

"Cissa!" Draco watched in shock and awe as his mother smiled and returned the embrace from the strange woman. He realized that his mother was pretty when she smiled, something he had never really, truly seen her do. His shock was evident. His world was being turned upside down as he watched the interaction.

"What are you doing here?" The woman asked, eyeing Narcissa. She shook her head. "Come in, come in, you can tell me about it once we're sitting with the others."

Draco expected an order to stay outside, or to follow and remain silent. He did not expect what he got.

"You've grown Draco," the woman told him, "the last time I saw you, you weren't even as high as my knee."

"Draco," his mother explained, "this is your godmother Miya."

"Just call me Miya, or Aunt Miya, which ever you prefer. You can join us in the kitchen until my wayward daughter makes an appearance and then you can join her and the boys in whatever they're doing over in Piper's yard." Miya led them into her home. "Cissa, I have two other guests. One a cousin of yours and the other an old friend, also, my nephew is here as well."

Narcissa nodded, her face becoming stubborn. Draco decided to keep silent and watch. Whatever was going on here could possibly show his father he was useful when he reported it. He knew his father expected a report from him on the places and people he met while on the trip with his mother.

Draco followed his mother and Miya into the kitchen. There he froze in both fear and shock. Severus Snape, his godfather and potions professor, was sitting beside Sirius Black, felon and hated enemy. Both men stood and greeted his mother, stiffly.

"Oh Hell, can't you be civil to each other?" Miya demanded. "You two are cousins, at least try to forgive each other. You two were house-mates, at least try to act like acquaintances."

Narcissa stared at Sirius for a long minuet. "I'm sorry," she told him. "I knew you were innocent, but I did nothing to help you. I had my own child to protect."

Sirius gaped at his cousin. Miya closed his mouth, muttering something about a fly flying in. She directed Draco to sit down at the table. He did, considering that he had to sit down before he collapsed from shock.

"Do say something," Draco watched as a Japanese woman walked into the kitchen from the backyard, "Before Miya decides to trap you in dog form for a week."

"You're forgiven Cissa," Sirius finally replied. "I would have done the same thing to protect Harry."

"Now that that drama is finally over," Severus drawled, "what are you doing here Narcissa?"

"Yea," Miya looked at her friend. "I never thought that you'd get away from that," she glanced at Draco, "man you married. Lady Life knows the only good thing he ever gave you is your son."

"I have come to collect on your promise to me Miya," Narcissa told the woman.

Miya nodded, "Of course, Draco may stay here as long as he likes or as long as you allow him." She sighed. "Just as long as you understand," this time she looked at Draco directly, speaking to him and no one else, "I'll have none of the pureblood nonsense your father seems so proud of here. You're human just like the rest of us, I expect you to act like it."

"I understand," Draco replied, unnerved be the power he suddenly felt coming from the woman.

"Hey Mom," a girl entered the kitchen, grinning widely, "do we have anymore brownies to add to the picnic basket?"

"Check the cabinet Selena," Miya replied, "and come and greet your godmother and her son."

"Sure," Selena approached the table, saw the state the two new people were dressed in, and stopped. "Just let me go wash my hands first. Blondie over there looks like he's about to have a fit."

Draco was indeed grimacing at the amount of dirt Selena had on her. Narcissa wasn't so bad. She had merely raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Selena has grown into a beautiful young woman Miya," Narcissa told her friend. "I assume she inherited your powers?"

Miya grinned, "Over Earth and telekinesis, yes. However, she gets her third power from her father, who isn't magically inclined in anyway."

"Then how did she inherit a power from him?"

"He has a gift for languages," Miya explained, "Selena can speak any language in the world, and all she needs to do is hear some of it."

"A useful talent to have," Narcissa commented. "How is your nephew doing?"

"Harry is doing well," Miya told her, "having Draco here means that he'll have a reason to practice his own powers more."

Selena entered the kitchen again. She greeted both Narcissa and Draco. She eyed Draco.

"Do you want to join the rest of us outside? We're getting ready to eat lunch."

"Go ahead Draco," Narcissa told her son.

Draco grudgingly followed Selena. Once outside, she lead him to where there were a few loose boards in the fence. Thru those boards was where three more boys were waiting.

"YOU!" Harry and Draco called out at the same time, glaring at each other.

Wyatt and Chris shared a glance. They wondered if they should retreat or intervene, but Selena took care of the problem.

"Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, you will both act civilly and you will both forget whatever rivalries you have. Start fresh or I will have my pets tie you up and leave you hanging for a week!" Selena told them, glaring much harder then either boy was doing.

"You should do what she says," Wyatt told them, edging away from his friend.

"Selena's pets are scary," Chris added in, "almost as scary as Mom when she's mad."

"Truce?" Harry held out a dirt encrusted hand, wondering what the other boy would do.

Draco sniffed, crossing his arms in defiance. "As if I want to-" he never got to finish.

"Hey! Put me down!" Draco demanded as a large vine wrapped around him and held him up in the air.

"Nope," Selena replied, "not until you can play nice with the rest of us." She turned to the boys and dragged them to where the picnic was already set up. When Draco yelled at them again, he found his mouth covered by a clinging leaf.

Later, after they had all eaten and gotten back to work on whatever they were doing, Harry snuck away to talk to Draco.

"You know, Selena will let you go if you drop the 'Prince of Slytherin' attitude." Draco mumbled a reply, but it wasn't understandable. Harry sighed, glancing back to where Selena was instructing Wyatt and Chris in the placement of one of the flowers they were transplanting into the protection design Selena had found. He calmly touched the leaf over Draco's mouth. It wiggled a bit before peeling away enough so that Draco could speak.

"Why should I Potter?" He sneered.

"Look, you're the one who actually started this ongoing feud between us. All I did was say no because I didn't like how much you reminded me of my cousin." Harry explained. "I hate bullies, and the first impression I got from you was that you were one."

Draco had never felt so insulted in his life. He had never…he paused. He acted exactly how his father told him to. His father…his father was a bully. Draco remembered how he had played with Dobby when he was younger, he also remembered how his father had beaten the elf for it with the command that Dobby was never to interact with Draco in any way unless as a servant. Draco remembered how he treated others in his own house and the other houses. His shoulders sagged in defeat. He _was_ a bully.

"So Golden Boy Potter has a point," Draco replied, "now what are you going to do about it?"

"I'd like to call a truce and actually get to know you before deciding that I hate you." Harry replied. "Professor Snape isn't so bad, and he's actually been teaching Selena and I potions since he's been here." The boy paused. "I've learned a lot in the week that I've been here Draco, and I won't fight with you anymore."

"Fine," Draco told him, realizing that Harry was being truthful and completely serious, "can you please get me down now?" He fell with a thump as the vine holding him up relaxed and returned to normal. He sat up and growled, glaring at Selena who merely waved at him. He grabbed Harry's hand as the boy helped him to his feet.

"So, truce?" Harry asked, holding out his hand again for Draco to shake.

"Truce," Draco replied.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry took Draco's offered hand.

"Draco Malfoy."

* * *

Days later, late into the night, Draco found he was unable to sleep. His mother had left the same day they had arrived. The same day that he and Harry had called a truce between them and slowly began forming a friendship. Draco was also forming a friendship with Wyatt and Chris, along with Selena. It wasn't what was keeping him up.

What was keeping him up was the fact that he was learning things about himself that he hadn't known. He could control both light and shadows, which explained how he could so easily hide in plain sight even when he wasn't trying to. He was a bit scared actually, because he knew he was changing, and changing quickly. Part of it was because he didn't have his father glaring down at him anytime he made a mistake. A much bigger part of it was that no one here would tolerate him if he acted anything other then human. Anytime he began acting as the Prince of Slytherin (as Harry had dubbed it), Miya and or Selena was there to knock him back down. Even Uncle Severus was doing it now.

Still, he had to admit that he was enjoying his time here also. It wasn't all just training and school work. He was almost constantly outside with the others playing one game or another. He would work with them in the garden, or in helping with the yard work. He was finding it comfortable to be here.

Draco had never thought living as a muggle was worth anything. Now he knew he was wrong. He had never thought that he'd ever know the true meaning of having friends, now he did. Like he had thought before, he was changing quickly. There were no more thoughts of reporting to his father. In fact, when he had overheard his aunt (as he had taken to calling Miya) referring to his father by anything but his name or title, he wasn't the least bit angry. He had come to the conclusion that his father was a lot of things, and none of them were nice.

"Why are you still up?" Harry appeared over the edge of the top bunk, blinking sleepily at his friend. Something he never thought possible considering the boy below him. His question was one of curiosity, not anger or annoyance.

"To much on my mind," Draco replied. Along with discovering his own Wiccan powers, they had discovered Harry's. The boy was telepathic, with minor empathic capabilities. He could speak to snakes, which, Miya explained, was not a dark wizard power at all but a Wiccan power. They had tried to see if Harry could speak to other animals, but he could only speak to snakes. He was also gifted at illusions.

"Like what?" Harry yawned, but managed to get his glasses on so that he could actually see Draco.

"How quickly I'm changing," Draco replied. He had already found out that Harry knew if someone was lying or not. He also knew when they were hiding something. For a boy with little to no compassion ever shown to him, he was perceptive and knew when things needed to be said.

"You shouldn't worry about it," Harry told him, "and if you're worried that you'll revert back to your asshole self, don't be. You'll be who you're comfortable being or who you need to be at a certain time."

"How do you know all this?" Draco demanded, unsettled that the boy he had spent three school terms at odds with could read him so well.

"Because," Harry replied, "you're a Slytherin. You're supposed to be cunning and intelligent and suspicious by nature. When you're not trying to hard, you are all those things. You're also Draco, a teenage boy who's finally learning that he doesn't have to be a bully to get what he wants."

"And your Harry," Draco replied, "the annoying Gryffindor who's learning that he doesn't need to rush headlong into things before thinking them though and is far more likeable when he doesn't have the entire world looking at him as some kind of icon."

Both boys burst out laughing after a moment of silence. Once they calmed down, they wished each other good night. Draco finally found he was able to sleep.

* * *

"You know," Sirius commented as he sat at the table watching Severus brew some kind of potion, "I never did apologize for what we did to you while we were in school."

"I don't expect you ever will," Severus replied, not removing his gaze from the potion he was working on.

"That's what I'm trying to do here," Sirius replied, annoyed. "Those two boys upstairs have a point."

"And what point would that be?" Severus would have preferred if Sirius would simply shut up, but he couldn't have everything.

"That houses don't, and shouldn't, mean as much as they do. If they can get over their problems, can't we at least forgive each other for past wrongs and try to get along enough so that Miya isn't constantly glaring at us?"

Severus finished his potion, turning down the heat so that it would simmer and not blow up. He looked at the man sitting at the table, realizing that the mutt was being completely serious (no pun intended).

"I suppose," he side snidely, not expecting that it would hold out for very long.

"Great," Sirius grinned. "I apologize for the pranks we pulled. I won't list them, because then you'd never forgive me!" The man left the room, leaving a sneering Severus behind.

That, he supposed, would be the closet thing he would ever receive as an apology from the man. Still, it was nice to know that at least one of them men was sorry for what he and his friends had done.


	5. Chapter 5

What If

What If

Chapter Five

I OWN NO ONE BUT MY OC PEOPLE AND THE PLOT!

* * *

Hermione was bored. Her summer plans had changed drastically when her parents decided that she was to come with them to San Francisco instead of going to Ron's. She and her parents were there for a month so that her parents could attend a medical conference. Thus, she was left on her own in the nearby mall.

Currently, Hermione was sitting in the small book store looking over the fantasy and science fiction sections. While she loved magic and being able to do it, it was still fun to read the books that muggles wrote about the subject.

"I still don't see why you dragged us in here Selena," Hermione froze. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"You need to experience some of the more 'normal' aspects of life where magic isn't everyday," a girl said. Hermione fought to stay hidden. "Plus, I think you two will enjoy some of the books here. This is one of my favorite stores in the mall."

"We know Selena," Hermione knew that voice without having to look. "You're almost as bad as Hermione when it comes to books."

"She's a know-it-all as well, don't forget that." Now Hermione placed the voice. Yet she had to ask herself, what was Harry doing with Draco Malfoy?

"I don't know everything," said Selena, the girl, "not yet anyway. Now come on you two, help me pick books out for when I go to visit my dad."

"Yes Selena," the two boys chorused.

Hermione watched from around the edge of the bookcase as Harry, Draco, and the girl who must be Selena walked into the store and towards where Hermione was hiding. Hermione turned around and pretended to be looking at the titles of the books in front of her.

"Hermione?" The girl turned to face a surprised Harry.

"No way," the girl turned around to look at the bushy haired girl that she and her cousins had passed. "How coincidental is that?"

"Hello Harry," Hermione smiled at her friend. She hugged him. "Do you have any idea how worried every one is back home? No one's been able to find you!"

"Obviously," Draco drawled, winching when Selena elbowed him.

"Excuse the brat behind me; he's still being trained in manors." The red haired girl grinned at Hermione. "I'm Selena Becket, Harry's cousin by blood and Draco's cousin by friendship."

"Yes, yes," Draco dodged the elbow this time and grinned, "now that you have another bookworm to drag around, can Harry and I leave?"

"Nope," Selena grinned evilly. "Mom gave me all the money, so we stick together. Hermione can join us if she wants to."

"Will you Hermione?" Harry looked at her hopefully.

Hermione looked at her friend. He looked happy. Harry was obviously enjoying his summer for once.

"Alright Harry," Hermione smiled at him again, "but I want answers on how you got here!"

Selena dragged Draco down the aisle leaving the two friends to talk. By the time they were done at the bookstore, Hermione knew exactly how Harry was doing. She was invited to tag along with them until she had to meet up with her parents and she accepted. The four of them wondered around the mall, each carrying the bags that they began to accumulate.

"I think it's time we stop and get something to eat." Draco caused all of them to stop. "Selena, shouldn't we go and see if Chris and Wyatt are here?"

Selena looked at her watch. "You're right Draco, let's go." She grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged the girl toward the food court.

Hermione then met the two boys who were waiting for them. Wyatt took Selena's bags and took them to the table he and his brother had already chosen. Harry took Hermione's and followed him. Draco and Chris brought up the rear.

"So what are we going to eat?" Wyatt asked, dragging over and extra chair for Hermione.

"Pizza," "Tacos," "Chinese," were the three answers his question received.

"Why don't we let the girls decide?" Wyatt suggested, "After all, Mom gave the food money to Selena."

"Why don't any of our mothers trust us with the food money?" Chris asked, since Selena normally controlled the money that they had for food when at the mall.

"Because Piper and Mom both know that I won't spend it anywhere else and I won't let you guys eat just anything." Selena told them with a wicked smirk on her face. "Come on Hermione, Harry, we'll go and get the food."

"Why does Harry get to go?" Wyatt asked, pouting slightly.

"Because Harry won't argue with me," Selena smirked and took the two she had named with her.

When they came back, they were each carrying trays with various dishes from the Chinese restaurant. Handing them out, all of them dug in.

"Who ate the last egg roll?" Chris looked disappointed. Harry split it in half and handed it to his friend. "Thanks Harry."

"So this is where you all went," all of them jumped to look at the blonde who was looking at them. "Piper is going to kill me one of these days when I tell her that I've lost you once again at the mall."

"But Billy, you didn't lose us," Selena said, "We even got you some lunch."

Chris pulled another chair over and they made room for the blonde.

"Who's your friend?" Billy was looking at Hermione.

"This is Hermione," Harry told her, "Hermione, this is Billy. She's the one who usually watches us if none of the adults are around."

"So you're the bookworm that Harry's always comparing Selena to," Billy smiled.

"So I've heard," Hermione replied. She couldn't help it, she liked these people. They all took the fact that she was intelligent as if it were commonplace and it didn't matter so long as she was herself. Harry was smiling and joking, things he rarely did even at school. It was also nice not being the only girl.

"Come on Hermione," Selena stood up, "the boys can clean up and we can go to the other stores. Billy, do you want to come with us?"

"Alright, but you all," she looked hard at the five boys, "meet us at the fountain by five. Miya will arrive with the van around then."

Once the boys had given her their agreement, she went off with the other two girls. The boys, left to their own devices, pondered on what to do.

"Well, it certainly can't be anything that deals with having money," Draco reminded them. "Selena took it all."

"No she didn't," Harry held up his wallet, a leather beauty that Miya had given him. "She gave me some and Miya and Piper both gave me money for the arcade."

"Excellent," Chris and Wyatt both grinned.

"Let's educate you two in how to play video games." Wyatt took a hold of Draco while Chris snagged Harry's arm.

At the arcade, they all watched as Harry won every time at the claw machine. Draco took the record at the various ball throwing games. Finally, they realized the time and took off with their prizes to the fountain.

"Where did you guys get all of that stuff?" Selena asked, awed at the sight of the large bag Harry was triumphantly carrying. Draco had a smaller bag with the items he had exchanged his tickets for. Even Chris and Wyatt had a bag from the arcade.

"The arcade," Wyatt told her, "you should have seen these two. I've never seen anyone win and set records like they were doing. They actually had to refill the claw machines after Harry was finished getting what he wanted out of them."

"You all do know that I now have to find places for all of that, plus you in the van," Miya drawled as she walked over to them. "Thank you for watching them Billy. Do you need a lift home?"

"No, I have my car. If you want, I can take Chris and Wyatt home with their things." Billy offered, getting her keys out of her pocket.

"No, we'll find room for all of it." Miya hugged the younger woman and shooed her on her way. Billy left, grinning at them as she wondered off. "Harry, who's your friend?"

Once again, Harry introduced Hermione. Hermione stared at the red haired, green eyed woman that Harry told her was his aunt. She had seen the few pictures that Harry had of his mother. This woman could have been her twin.

"It's nice to meet you Hermione, are your parents here yet?" Miya looked at the girl, seeing the paths laid out for her future. Several of them lead to Harry, and not all of them ended in just friendship.

"I don't see them," Hermione told her, "but they should be here soon."

"Alright, I'll pull the van up and you guys can load your things in it. Don't move." Miya left and together the six of them moved outside to wait for her.

Hermione and Selena made sure that they didn't have any of their things mixed up, separating them. Selena left Hermione with the bags, stuffing her things into Harry's. She watched as Harry and Draco got along as if they had been friends for longer than a few weeks. Draco had even been respectful to her, even nice.

Seeing her parents, she waved goodbye and went over to them. The girl was in another surprise.

"Miya Becket, is that you?" Lauren Granger asked upon spotting the red-head.

"Lauren?" Miya looked up. "Hermione is your daughter?" She grinned, "I should have known, who else could she have gotten that hair and brains from?"

Both women laughed, hugging tightly. The kids and David Granger watched in surprise and confusion. Hermione and Harry looked at each other, completely confused.

"It's a small world it seems," Miya turned to her group, "Hermione, would you like to stay with us?"

"Is that okay Mum?" Hermione looked at both her parents.

"Of course Hermione," Lauren told her daughter, "this way you won't be stuck in the hotel by yourself for hours on end."

"I don't see why not," David agreed.

Thus, Miya gained another child at her house. Hermione shared Selena's room. The girl was surprised to see that Harry and Draco were sharing a room. Yet she was more surprised at the large black dog that came bounding outside at the sight of them.

"Down Grim!" Miya said laughingly, "Inside with you, you can wait a few more minuets."

"Harry, was that . . . ?" Hermione trailed off.

"Yes," Harry replied, his grin broader and beginning to turn into one of his true smiles.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

What If

Chapter 6

I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT AND MY OC PEOPLE!!! I do not own Google!

* * *

Life had settled into routine for the four teenagers living with Miya. Hermione had been surprised at first to learn what was going on with Harry and even more surprised to find their potions professor teaching them during the summer. Hermione didn't complain about the lessons, though she was slightly disappointed that she had no Wiccan magic to speak of. However, she did have a talent for using her magic without a wand.

Miya taught all four of them wandless magic. Selena had the most trouble, but wizardly magic was not something she could use. The lessons were still useful however, and she enjoyed learning and even helping sometimes.

Severus instructed them all in the art of potion making differently then he did in class. He and Piper had come to a sort of impasse between the differences in the way and reason they made potions. Piper covered Wiccan potions, using normal, everyday items that Severus often turned his nose up at. He did grudgingly admit Piper's potions were powerful and useful, though never out loud.

Sirius had taken over defense training along with Nori. At first he had been only humoring the petite woman, then she had beaten him in hand-to-hand. After that, Sirius stuck to spell work and let her instruct the teenagers in physical fighting. Phoebe, when she had time, added her own knowledge. She spared with Draco when she discovered he had been taught fencing. She then, when she had time between work and her own family, trained Draco in different fighting styles with different swords. She also taught Harry and Selena, though Hermione declined. Instead, the book-worm found herself joining Selena and Miya when they practiced archery.

Paige, feeling slightly left out, took on teaching all of the teenagers about various magical creatures, including demons. Severus and Sirius often listened in on these lessons, particularly when some part of Paige's lesson had something to do with what they were teaching the teenagers.

Leo and Nori taught the teenagers healing. Chris and Wyatt had their own healing powers to train, but the other four learned normal first aid. Since both white-lighters had been medics, they could easily do so. Nori was well versed in herb-lore, poisons as well as healing. When asked why such a thing was needed, Nori explained that one should always know how to tend to an injury even if it was just enough so that the wounded person would live long enough to be healed by some kind of healer. Severus also pointed out that one reason why one never messed with healers was that a healer had to learn what killed and what did not, what would hurt a patient during healing and what would not hurt them, and how to give pain as well as heal it.

Currently, all of them were taking a break. The small rooftop garden barely fit all six of them, but they managed. Selena used Wyatt as a pillow while Hermione did the same with Harry. This allowed Draco and Chris to have a little more space.

"We need a cat," Selena said suddenly.

"_Why_ do we need a cat?" Draco drawled. "Harry and I both have owls. Hermione," he had stopped referring to the girl by her last name, "has a cat already."

"Yes, but that's individually. I'm saying we need a group cat. A creature we can all share." Selena explained. "Wyatt's mom and aunts had a cat when they started using their magic."

"She has a point," Wyatt added in, "but Kit was a sort of guardian. Mom, Aunt Phoebe, and Aunt Pru didn't just go to a shelter or somewhere and adopt her."

"What brought this on anyway?" Chris asked. He and Wyatt had never had any pets and neither had Selena as far as he knew.

Selena shrugged. "I just thought it sounded like a good idea. I mean, half of us are leaving in August. I just thought it would be something that would tie us together that didn't involve magic."

"I agree with Selena," Harry spoke up. "Besides," he added with a shrug, "it would be nice to have a pet that was just a pet." Petunia had never liked having animals inside the house. Having a puppy was one thing Dudley had never gotten from either parent.

Draco thought about it. He'd never really had a pet. Owls weren't pets in the sense that muggles thought of the word. Companions and mail carriers were better descriptions.

"I don't see any problems with it." He agreed. A part of him felt excited about the prospect.

"I think it's a good idea," Hermione finally spoke, "but where would it live, if we could get Miya and Nori to go along with it?"

"Here," Selena spoke at the same time Wyatt and Chris said it. The three friends grinned at each other.

"We still need to-" Selena stopped speaking as she went rigid. Then she was up and off the roof and running towards the front of the house.

Wyatt orbed off after her. Chris rolled his eyes and orbed the rest of them to the ground where they hurried to the front of the house. Selena was hugging a man with short brown hair and blue eyes behind wire-framed glasses. The man was hugging her back.

"So he's arrived," Miya had walked up behind the five watching teens. Nori was beside her, watching her younger charge as she embraced her father and chattered at him in a language that wasn't English.

"Who is he?" Harry asked, trying to place the man that seemed familiar but Harry didn't know how.

"Daniel Jackson," Miya supplied, "Selena's father and one of my best friends on this planet." She was smiling.

"Dad, this is Harry," Selena had dragged her father over to meet her friends and cousins, "Hermione, Draco, Wyatt, and Chris."

"Hello," Daniel greeted them.

Miya hugged him. "What's up with the surprise visit Daniel? I thought I was sending Selena to you?"

Daniel fidgeted. "Something came up at work, so I decided to visit now instead of having to cancel completely."

"That's okay Dad," Selena hugged him again. She rarely got to see him, since technically he wasn't listed as being her parent, just the sperm donor. It was from him however that she got her gift of languages from. "You came just in time for the family picnic and softball game at Mom's work. Its guys against girls and now Harry and Draco can play."

Daniel nodded as he was led inside. A part of him wished that Sha're could have met his daughter and her mother. He'd never even told his deceased wife about them, not having seen anything of the sort on Abydos.

Miya watched as Selena dragged Daniel around. It had been a while since Selena had gotten to do more than speak with Daniel over the phone or the occasional webcam conversation. Even those were spaced far apart. At least Daniel had a good excuse, unlike some fathers Miya knew.

"Are you going to let him sit down anytime soon?" Miya joked from the doorway as Selena showed Daniel her most recent language books that she had acquired.

"I'm fine," Daniel assured his friend. This wasn't any worse than Jack hauling him around some off-world forest. Better actually. No one was shooting at him.

Miya rolled her eyes. "Of course you are, dinner will be ready soon. Selena, don't run him ragged on his first night here."

"I won't Mom," Selena replied with an eye-roll.

Miya shook her head and left them to their own devices. Instead, she went to find where the other five had gone off to. Piper found her instead.

"I heard Selena's dad arrived." Piper was stirring the sauce for the pasta.

"Unexpectedly and quite unannounced," Miya replied. "Are the rest of them at your house then?"

"Yes, begging Leo to help them explain baseball to the three wizards." Piper smiled. Leo enjoyed being a teacher. "How is it having twice the number of kids in your house then you're used to?"

Miya laughed. "Enjoyable. Daniel will be telling me I've been collecting strays again after dinner. Are you dragging Wyatt and Chris home to eat or are they going to be watching Daniel to insure he isn't some kind of demon in disguise?"

Piper rolled her eyes at that comment. It had only happened once, but they could still get laughs out of it. "They'll be eating at home tonight. Phoebe and Paige are coming over for dinner along with their families."

Miya nodded. "Family dinner night, always fun."

"No demons this time," Piper told her. "I'm certain of that this time."

"Of course you are." Miya replied. "Hello Sirius."

"Who's here?" Sirius had seen the new car in the driveway. He didn't recognize it and he had been all over the neighborhood as Grim.

Selena rolled her eyes at him. "Daniel, Selena's dad, is here. He knows about magic and he's already met Snape. You can meet him tonight during dinner."

"Why is he here?" Sirius questioned, still on guard about new people he didn't know showing up since as far as the general public knew he was wanted for mass murder.

"Why do you think he's here?" Daniel asked from the doorway, causing Sirius to jump. "Miya, why do you have a known criminal in your kitchen?"

Miya laughed. "Daniel, this is Sirius Black. He's innocent of all charges, not that that little fact is known by very many people. Sirius, this Daniel Jackson. He's also a friend and Selena's dad." She looked between the two. "Play nice or I will tie you up until you do."

Piper snickered. People thought she could be mean when she was upset. Those people had more than likely never met Miya. The red-head gave her a run for her money in who could be the most inventive in how they accomplished their threats.

"Dad," Selena entered the kitchen, "I found the pictures." She looked at the adults. "You know Mom, maybe you should warn people about whose all in your house before they enter." She calmly sat down at the table and opened her scrapbook. She was used to this by now.

Harry, Draco, and Hermione entered thru the back door. They looked at the two males sizing each other up. Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something about males in general. Harry and Draco just shrugged. Draco joined the girls at the table and Harry joined his aunt in the kitchen.

"Miya, why is Sirius staring at Dr. Jackson like that?" Harry asked as he began the garlic bread.

"How'd you know Daniel was a doctor Harry?" Miya asked, turning to look at her nephew.

"Chris and I Googled him," Harry replied. "Do you really think the Pyramids are landing stations for alien spaceships?"

Piper shook her head. "I better get home before they decide to find that out for themselves." She said her goodbyes and returned to the manor. Hopefully Leo would know something about this.

Daniel blushed and wondered how to get out of this one. Miya knew because of her powers. No one else did and he couldn't actually tell them anything.

"Alright, that's enough questioning of Daniel." Miya came to his rescue. "Everyone either sit down or leave the kitchen. You all know the rules."

Everyone sat down (or stayed sitting). Selena began showing Daniel pictures she had wanted to show him. Thankfully, that occupied all of them (Daniel was more than happy to explain to Sirius some of the finer points on 'muggle' technology). By the time Harry and Miya were serving dinner, the conversation was on the latest lessons the teens were learning over the summer.

"So Hogwarts doesn't teach any of the things you would learn in a non-magical school?" Daniel asked, interested.

"No," Hermione replied, "why would they?" She didn't really see the point of continuing muggle education, mainly because she didn't see herself returning to normal muggle society beyond whatever her adult occupation required.

"It seems that they expect everyone to have some kind of magical career," Daniel explained. "What if someone wanted to take a muggle job instead of a magical one?"

"Daniel has a point Hermione," Harry added in. "There has to have been some students who returned to living outside the Wizarding World."

"If there have been," Draco added in, "they probably wouldn't have been recorded. The pure-bloods would see it as an insult of some kind and everyone else would probably begin rumors as to why the person or persons would do something like that."

"There aren't any records of students from Hogwarts ever returning to the muggle world," Hermione admitted. "I looked it up my first year, before I became friends with Harry and Ron."

"No one was very nice to you before that, were they?" Harry asked, looking down. He hadn't been mean to Hermione before they had become friends, but he had ignored her. That was mainly due to the fact Ron hadn't seemed to like the fact that Hermione was smarter than everyone else and wasn't hesitant to show it.

"No, they weren't," Hermione was never going to share what many of the girls had said about her, both before and after she had become part of the 'Golden Trio'.

"People are stupid," Draco interceded. "Slytherin would be insultive towards you because of the House issues between them and Gryffindor. The rest of it was sheer stupidity."

"Well," Selena frowned, "it's the same in most places, isn't it? People ostracize those who are different."

"I wish they'd ostracize me at times," Harry muttered.

"You're the boy-who-lived," Draco scoffed. "That's never going to happen, not unless you turn evil or join Slytherin or something." He paused. "Of course, people like Wesley would see it as the same thing."

Harry and Hermione didn't say anything in Ron's defense. Draco was correct after all. Harry thought of something.

"The Hat wanted to put me into Slytherin," he told them. Hermione blinked, and then blushed.

"It wanted to do the same to me as well," she admitted.

Draco laughed. "Uncle Severus would have probably blown a caldron if that had happened." Miya joined in the laughter as well, so did Sirius and Daniel, who had met Snape.

"All that aside," Selena looked at her cousin and friend, "why didn't you two agree with the Hat?"

"Slytherin has quite a bit of bad publicity," Draco explained. "Some of it is true, but far from all of it. They no doubt heard of my House's reputation before they even entered the Great Hall."

"He's right," Harry and Hermione chorused, blinking at each other before looking away.

"Enough of that," Miya decided a change in subject was in order. "How about we go out for desert and maybe a movie?"

Harry and Draco both readily agreed. Draco because a lot of the things muggles had he had never even heard of before. Harry because the Dursleys preferred to lock him in his cupboard verses letting him do anything that he might enjoy.

"Hermione and Selena have clean-up duty tonight, do that first and then we'll go." Sirius pouted because he wouldn't get to go since he was, after all, a wanted criminal. Miya fixed that by letting him get a PPV movie while they were gone.

* * *

"We'll have to leave soon," Draco said that night while he and Harry lay in bed.

"I know," Harry replied. "What are we going to do at school?" He already suspected how Ron would react, not to mention the rest of Hogwarts' student body.

"I refuse to return to how I used to behave." Draco said with finality. "If anything, that behavior tarnished the Malfroy name. If it means dealing with everyone as people, so be it."

"I've had far too few friends to lose one because of human idiocy," Harry decided. "Besides, I think the rivalries between the houses need to end." He paused. "Or most of them have to end. The stupid ones at least."

"Agreed," Draco told the boy on the bed above him. "Do you think Hermione will help?"

"Of course she will," Harry assured him. "At least, I think she will."

"Why do you doubt me?" Hermione stood in the doorway. Both boys jumped.

"Can we join this conversation?" Selena appeared beside Hermione. The two girls entered and soon all four of them were sitting on Draco's bed.

"Ron sent this to me," Hermione handed over the invitation Ron had sent. "He's also said that no one has been able to find you."

"Of course not," Selena sniffed in distain. "The rampant rumor is probably that Sirius has kidnapped Harry and is either training him to be the next evil wizard of the century of has killed him."

"To much inbreeding," Draco muttered, "has made the Wizarding World rise in the level of idiocy." The others nodded in agreement.

"I should probably write to Ron," Harry admitted to both himself and the others.

"Why haven't you?" Hermione asked, knowing Harry hadn't written to her either after his disappearance.

"Undoubtedly he'll tell someone where I am," Harry explained his reasoning, "either on purpose or without meaning to."

"You don't want to be taken away from here," Selena inserted what Harry hadn't said. "No one can fault you for that." She grinned deviously. "Of course, Dumbledore might arrive and attempt to take you back."

"He'd have to…" Hermione trailed off as it hit the three wand-users. "Oh my," Hermione murmured, imagining what Miya would do to the headmaster.

Draco snickered. "The old coot would regret it. What's the invitation for anyway?"

"The Quidditch World Cup," Harry replied, having read Ron's letter already. "He said something about inviting me as well, at the end of last school year."

"Father has seats reserved for us," Draco mentioned. "Mother knows that." He blanched suddenly. This would mean that his mother would be coming for him soon. He'd have to come up with something to tell his father.

"Don't worry about it." Selena told him. "I have an idea." Quickly, she whispered it to the other three.

"Brilliant," Harry breathed. "You can use Hedwig. She'll enjoy having something to do."

Selena sat back as her three friends continued making further plans for their end. Hers was easy. Now, if Wyatt and Chris would go along as well, they would be set.


End file.
